Final Weekend

For our last weekend together in Wrangell (notice how I stipulate “in Wrangell” because I’m in denial that it was our last weekend ever), Adam and I chartered a floatplane and spent two nights at the Forest Service cabin in Berg Bay.

Berg Bay is on the mainland 20 miles east of Wrangell and is considered bear country. It happens to be the location of the most recent bear mauling that occurred July 2.

I’m going to overload this blog entry with images just because it was so beautiful and remote there. And hopefully you’ll agree and not be too bored.

The sun came out late Saturday afternoon which made for this excellent shot of the view right outside the door of the cabin. The late day sun was followed by the clearest evening sky I’ve seen in a long while. I was hoping to glimpse the northern lights but no such luck. After arching our necks for a while, we went back inside and thirty minutes later the sky was completely clouded over.

This was the first Forest Service cabin I’ve stayed in. In fact, it’s the first time I’ve stayed in a rustic cabin like that since sleep-away camp. And it really wasn’t all too rustic, especially with all the gear Adam brought. He is a pro at camping in every aspect and prepared everything – the stove, lantern, utensils and plates, pots and pans, sleeping mats and bags, food, alcohol, water, oil, everything. The cabin had an oil heater that worked too well, an outhouse a short walk away, and a great loft.

The view from that great loft.

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Behind the cabin was the beginning of a trail. On Saturday we hiked around eight miles roundtrip which isn’t too much of a distance but it was actually arduous. Once we stepped off the wooden planks which happened pretty early on, the endless muskeg began, the trudging and the Xtratuff suctioning. It was my most ungraceful day of walking ever.

But well before all that ungrace were the flats and those were beautiful. We visited them each day we were there and they were different each time.



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This is Adam carrying our bear protection. We did not see one bear the whole time we were there. We saw a heron, several birds, ducks, and geese, a seal, mountain goats, but no bears. And after carrying the gun for 8 miles Saturday, Adam kind of wished a bear would mess with me so he could shoot it. I mean, he didn’t really, but kind of did.




Despite the cloudy morning, Sunday turned out to be one of the most beautiful days this summer. Unfortunately, we had arranged for the plane to pick us up at 1:30 (we had only rented the cabin through noon that day).


The Wrangell vicinity from above.

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This is an image of a moment I wish I could’ve frozen in time, as corny as that sounds.

Primary Fever (71%)

I did a very Alaskan thing yesterday; I voted in the Alaska primary and it felt great, for a number of reasons. One, I’ve never voted in a primary before; two, I’ve never voted in Alaska before; and three, I got to wear one of those “I Voted” stickers all day which was dark blue and had the eight stars of the Alaska state flag – eight stars representing seven of the big dipper and one north star.

Wrangellites voted at the American Legion, which is right next door to the police department/fire station, about a seven-minute walk from the Sentinel office.

I won’t go into detail about who or how I voted, but I will tell you the number one reason voting in the primary felt great (which will reveal who I voted for). For the first time in my voting career, the person I voted for won. What a new concept, huh? And I know it’s just the primary, and who I voted for in that does not necessarily translate into who I’ll be voting for in November, but it’s still this intensely amazing feeling, such a simple feeling.

It’s been rough. Because of the owner and his owner’s right to print certain editorials, for months leading up to the primary, the paper I write for had clearly thrown its support for Murkowski. It infuriated me. As small of a paper as we are, these editorials were clearly making a statement, one I wanted nothing to do with. And I had absolutely no control over it. I think it’s intense when any news publication, which claims to promote neutrality, obviously favors one candidate over another.

On top of that, with only a few weeks left leading up to the primary, the building the Sentinel office is housed in was bought by a new owner. The day after the deal went through, I saw this new owner walking back and forth in front of the office window and wondered what he was up to. Later that day, I saw what he had been up to clearly – 4 feet by 6 feet clearly. On both sides of the building, the new owner had nailed huge John Binkley campaign posters. I wanted to vomit. They still make me want to vomit. And now they will remain hung up as reminders of what could’ve been, and thankfully, hopefully, will never be.

There is something about a fresh face, a fresh female face. I know politicians can never be trusted, but there is something about Sarah Palin that makes me, for perhaps the first time, want to believe.

My Mom In Wrangell (and Why I'm a Crazy Alaskan)

It’s been almost two weeks since my mom has left Wrangell but it already seems like eons ago. Despite arriving into Wrangell ten hours later than expected and coming in on a charter boat from Petersburg as opposed to on a plane into Wrangell’s airport, she ended up really liking it here. Despite the rain and the fog and the rain and the rain.

The sun did end up coming out for two and a half days in a row – quite impressive for weather around here. As fond to it as I have become, I have started to take for granted how naturally beautiful the surroundings are here. Upon returning back to New York, my mom commented on how “everything seems so ugly now.”


She got to go up the mighty Stikine River (it’s actually the Great river but I’ve taken the Mighty from the Mekong and have ascribed it to the Stikine as well) and there she saw icebergs, Shake’s Glacier, and her first moose. We joined some friends on a boat ride to Anan Bear Observatory, which is supposed to be the best bear observatory in the whole state, and saw a plethora of black bears and even a brown bear sow with two cubs.


And we joined Kevin and Scott on their fishing jaunt to Virginia Lake. It was the first time for both my mom and myself to see fly-fishing in real life. Watching Kevin and Scott fish was like seeing them become kids again, seeing them enjoy something so purely.

I imagine that’s what a lot of activities done here – the fishing, the hunting, the boating, the hiking – evoke in people. That’s what these surroundings can do. I have always enjoyed the outdoors in terms of being visually stimulating and providing warm weather, but I’ve never really used it, used the land. I don’t have enough knowledge of nature – the land or the water – to enjoy it in those capacities. It’s a barrier I feel is between many people who live in Wrangell and myself.


Unlike everyone else who has relocated to Alaska, I did not come here for the adventures in nature. Perhaps on a periphery level I did – after all, it’s impossible to think about Alaska and not think about the natural grandeur – but I never actually pictured myself going camping, fishing, hiking on trails that bears inhabit, paddling among sea lions. This might sound silly but I came to Alaska to write for a small town paper.


And while I do enjoy the outdoors and partaking in adventures I never really saw myself doing (really I do. They challenge me and are giving me memories I’ll never forget), I’d almost rather be reading in the sun or shooting the shit on someone’s deck enjoying the view. Call me crazy, a crazy Alaskan.

Superhero(ine)s Needed

I’m attending a Superhero party Saturday night and I’m desperate for some ideas. I have to dress up, have a name, a superpower and a superweakness.

Any suggestions?

(Did I mention that I’m desperate for suggestions?)

WeatherTalk

When I walked from the summer dock to the Sentinel office around noon today, it was raining hard. Because I had just gone to Woewodski Island by boat for a tour of the mining site, I was wearing long underwear, jeans, my Xtratufs (rubber boots), a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, one of those inner jacket layers, and then an outside shell – and I was still a little cold. This is my Wrangell summer.

According to Everett Hinkley’s Juneau Weather Page (a website Kevin swears by and Kevin is always right about the weather – it’s annoying sometimes how right he is) today’s high is around 60. Tomorrow seems to be the best day of the week with a high of 64, but the low is 48, which is literally half of what the weather is right now in New York City.

With my current weather life, it’s so hard for me to conceive of this massive heat wave occurring in, what seems like, every other state in America. But I am sympathetic as I have been in New York City in the summer without a heat wave and that’s brutal enough. Just thinking about being on a subway platform right now makes me want to sweat.

I think the hottest I’ve been for the past 8 months was when it was in the 70s for about six days in a row. Wrangell – a town of zero air conditioning or outdoor pools – became hot. I remember one day walking into Ottesen’s, a hardware store, and seeing a huge pyramid display of fans, and people buying them up quickly. The next day it rained.

And that was the end of hot.